Play With Fire ~Zuko X Reader~

-10- Lost and Found

Iroh handed Zuko the reins of the ostrich horse. Zuko mounted the creature, then looked at us uncle one last time. I watched as he rode off.

I looked at my teacher, "We're following him aren't we."

He smiled, "I wouldn't do it any other way."

I laughed and gathered the few things we would need, "We better get following then. Maybe we can have some fun with it. Who knows?"

We started walking.

It had to have been a few days. We spent most of the time talking with people and traveling. We were in a forest once more. I heard footsteps, then pulled Iroh behind a rock to hide. Mere minutes passed and I felt a vibration in the earth under my hands. A stream of earth sent us flying into the air, dust and smoke filled my vision. I immediately went to comfort a groaning Iroh.

"Ow... That really hurt my tailbone."

The earthbender approached us. I stood to protect us, but hesitated once I saw her.

"Who are you two?" Her voice was blunt, "Why were you hiding?"

I helped Iroh stand, then spoke, "I had us hide because I heard you coming. Sorry if we scared you. I assure you we mean no harm."

Iroh looked at my bag, which contained a simple tea set, "Would you like to join us for some tea?"

She smiled, "Yeah sure. Let's move somewhere else first."

We sat on a rocky outcrop. Iroh was heating tea over a flame. I sat on the ground next to his stone chair. He poured us all a cup of tea.

"Here is your tea," He sat on the stone, then looked at the girl, who by now I had discovered was blind, "You seem a little too young to be traveling alone."

She took a sip, "You seem a little too old."

He laughed, "It helps to have company."

She seemed to look my way, though I knew she couldn't see like I could, "I know what you two are thinking... I look like I can't handle being by myself."

I laughed and took a sip, "I wasn't thinking that. I was just impressed you found our hiding place."

Iroh smiled, "I wasn't thinking you couldn't handle yourself."

"You wouldn't even let me pour my own cup of tea!"

"I poured your tea because I wanted to and for no other reason."

I smiled with melancholy in my eyes, "He poured my tea too. Don't worry about it."

Her blank eyes bore into the tea cup, "People see me and think I'm weak. They want to take care of me, but I can take care of myself, by myself."

Iroh mugged me slightly, but addressed the earthbender, "You sound like my nephew, always thinking you need to do things on your own, without anyone's support. There is nothing wrong with letting the people who love you help you. Not that I love you, I just met you."

"So where is your nephew?"

I looked at the sky. A perfect balance of blues, oranges, reds, yellows, and whites. A balance that only existed in the endless abyss above us.

I spoke in a monotone voice, "We're tracking him down."

"Is he lost?"

I laughed, "I guess that's one way to say it."

She was confused. But Iroh tried to explain, "His life has recently changed and he's going through very difficult times. He's trying to figure out who he is and he went away."

"So now you're following him."

"I know he doesn't want us around him right now, but if he needs me, we'll be there."

I smiled, "I'll always be there for him. As long as I believe he can be happy one day. I'll work my hardest to make that day happen."

"He's very lucky, even if he doesn't know it," She got up, "Thank you."

Iroh was smiling bright, "My pleasure. Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life's true delights."

"No, thank you for what you both said. It... helped me."

"I'm glad," Iroh took my cup from me.

I stood, "Always happy to help, though I don't know how much thanks I deserve."

She started to leave, but then turned back to us, "Maybe you should tell him that you need him, too."

I packed up our things as the girl disappeared from our sight.

"We should get back to tracking the prince," My eyes stayed on the ground, "We don't want him to get too far ahead of us."

He nodded, and we started tracking once more.

We found ourselves in an abandoned town. I could see smoke and flames coming from the inner workings.

"Zuko!" I ran forward to the fallen boy, I tried to softly shake him awake.

Iroh came up behind us, "Uncle..."

"Get up!"

I helped Zuko to his feet. Then I watched the fight.

The blind girl from before entered the field, "I thought you guys could use a little help."

Katara smiled, "Thanks."

They were fighting Azula. It was my turn to join the battle. With some help from Iroh, we all backed her into a corner. Zuko and I stood ready to attack. Katara, the girl, and Aang joined us in battle stances.

"Well, look at this. Enemies and traitors, all working together. I'm done," She raised her hands into surrender, "I know when I'm beaten. You got me. A princess surrenders with honor."

I tried to assess her movements. Figure out what her game was. She smirked. Only an instant passed before she stepped forward and fired a blast of flame.

Her moment was so quick, I couldn't take the flame before it hit it's target. Iroh screamed in pain as he fell to the ground.

My vision filled with red. Flames erupted from my fist in a blind fury. I could feel curls of heat cut into my forearm. My flames were a bright red.

When I was out of rage, I could see embers falling from the sky. Azula was gone without a trace.

"Iroh!" I ran to my teacher's side.

Zuko joined me, "Ugh!" He turned to the Avatar and his allies, "Get away from us!"

I checked my teacher's pulse, putting my ear near his mouth to see if I could hear his breathing. He was alive.

"Zuko, I can help."

I felt fire curl around us, "Leave!"

Zuko turned back to us, and I could tell Aang and his team had left us.